Gemunu wants rioters punished

Lanka Private Bus Owner’s Association President Gemunu Wijerathne said firm action should be taken against those who damaged public property while severely injuring a soldier in the protest organised by several private bus trade unions against the Rs. 25, 000 and Rs. 2,500 traffic fine.

“We have already come to an agreement with President Maithripala Sirisena to form a committee on the revision of these fines when some private bus unions decided on a strike on Friday. They carried out a poster campaign to mislead our bus drivers which resulted in them feeling inclined to support the protest. It was beyond the power of bus owners to educate all their employees about these rumours. One has to realise that we are a bus owners’ association not a bus employees’ association,” Wijeratne said.

Short distance bus operations were normal in Jaffna, Mullaithivu , Kilinochchi, Mannar and Vavuniya whereas few buses operated in Ratnapura, Kegalle and Gampaha, Wijeratne said